As part of a focus on contemporary music theater Vienna State Opera will be issuing a composition commission to Johannes Maria Staud for an opera to last a whole evening with the support of the EvS Music Foundation. Staud, a former recipient of the Ernst von Siemens Composer’s Prize, has composed, among others, for the Ensemble Modern, the Berlin Philharmonic, the Cleveland Orchestra and the Vienna Philharmonic. The opera libretto was written by Durs Grünbein and the premiere is planned for December 2018.

Inspired by Algernon Blackwood’s "The Willows", Joseph Conrad’s "Heart of Darkness" as well as H.P. Lovecraft’s "Shadow Over Innsmouth" the plot fluctuates between a discordant couple and a surreally distorted observation of the threatened, current developments.